Business-to-Business Marketing


September 30–October 2, 2008
 
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Overview
Special challenges and opportunities confront the marketer who intends to serve the needs of organizations rather than households. Commercial enterprises, institutions, and all levels of government constitute a lucrative and complex market worthy of separate analysis. This course is designed to provide you with hands-on experience applying the current best practices that can help you and your company identify and exploit valuable opportunities in the business-to-business market.

 

You will learn how to build and manage a portfolio of profitable customer relationships, effectively manage your products and product lines, and develop value based pricing programs. You will also learn how to effectively manage marketing channels and how to build strong brands without paying for high budget advertising and promotion programs.  In addition, you will gain insight into developing appropriate metrics to track the results of your marketing efforts.

 

At the end of this intensive course, you will take away a clear understanding of how to identify opportunities available for your company to profitably grow, as well as the ability to develop, implement, and manage programs designed to respond to these opportunities.

Objectives
  • Evaluate existing as well as new customers and markets to identify new ways to profitably grow your business
  • Explore new ways to segment your markets using existing secondary data, as well as new customer-behavior based methods
  • Gain insight into practical ways to establish a meaningful dialog with current and potential customers, as well as with your customers’ customers
  • Develop strategies for profitably growing your business using insights gained from this meaningful dialog
  • Understand the emerging trends in purchase behavior and seller behavior in the business-to-business marketplace
  • Prepare your own action plan for weaving this “market-based” planning mentality into your organization

Who Should Attend
This program is designed for experienced managers with business-to-business marketing responsibilities. Typical titles include: general manager, vice president of marketing, marketing director or manager, and product or brand manager. Top executives and other senior managers who work closely with marketing are also encouraged to attend.

Key Topics
  • Assess the profitability of current products and markets
  • Identify, evaluate, and determine whether to respond to new product and new market opportunities
  • Strategically balance marketing resources between existing products and markets and new products and markets
  • Effectively segment markets using existing company-based data
  • Successfully communicate with existing and potential customers without investing in an “ad agency based” high budget campaign
  • Identify the best opportunities for raising or at least steadfastly maintaining prices
  • Develop and maintain a true partnership with members of your distribution network
  • Take what you have learned in this class and start making changes at your company

Teaching Approach

This program provides an intense and exciting learning environment.  Learning will happen in many ways including lecture, group discussion, case studies, and individual readings. There will also be hands-on computer based exercises involving the analysis of an actual multi-product, multi-market data base.


Tuition

$3,000


Quantity Discount
A discount of 15% will apply to registrations of three (3) or more people from the same company registering as a group for the same specific program. Please note that this offer is contingent upon all registrants enrolling in the same program having the same start date. Program cancellations and program transfers affecting the minimum number of people enrolled in the program for which the discount applied will void the discount.

 
Cancellation / Transfer Policy


Location
Executive Education
Carlson School of Management
University of Minnesota